Struggling to keep your research, writing, and citations organized? In this video, we’ll show you how to create a seamless writing workflow that keeps everything in sync—so you can focus on writing, not juggling sources. Let’s dive in!”
Category: Organization
How to Keep Your Research and Writing Time From Clashing?How to Keep Your Research and Writing Time From Clashing?
No one said you had to stop researching in order to start writing. But they also didn’t say you had to wait until your research was done before you could started your writing. In today’s Storylines, we’ll discuss the clash between your research and writing and how it’s affecting your ability to write and finish your family history stories.
Time to Put Boring Ancestor Profiles in the PastTime to Put Boring Ancestor Profiles in the Past
A couple of weeks ago, I told you how Ancestor Profiles are the perfect place to start. They are the ideal format for beginning your family history writing journey. You can watch the episode, What is an Ancestor Profile? here.
If you are already writing profiles, I ask you this. Are your profiles an information dump?
If you haven’t started writing them yet, would you prefer to write a profile that engages your readers instead of boring them?
Too many profiles are just a big yawn to our family members. It’s time to change that. It just doesn’t have to be that way. In today’s video, we discuss some key components that need to be included in your ancestor’s profile to elevate them from stilted and stale to entertaining.
How to Write Your First Ancestor StoryHow to Write Your First Ancestor Story
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It can be overwhelming writing that first ancestor story. Who do you start with, how do you start? How do you know what to write? The best way to relieve your anxiety is to have a plan in place before you begin to write. Preparation is key.
I encourage you to do some preliminary homework like mapping out your story, or creating a scene guide before you start. I would also suggest gathering the details of your ancestor’s life in addition to some social history of the time and place to help build your story
Take some time before you begin to write your first draft and enlist these 4 steps. Together they will help you to pre-plan your first family history story
draft.
I encourage you to do some preliminary homework like mapping out your story, or creating a scene guide before you start. I would also suggest gathering the details of your ancestor’s life in addition to some social history of the time and place to help build your story.
1.Choose one ancestor, one story
First and foremost, choose a single ancestor to write about. Don’t try to write four hundred years of history or about every ancestor in a single
new writers line in one story. Break your family history down into small manageable chunks; consider one ancestor, one story at a time. Once you’ve chosen the ancestor writers first you wish to start with complete a character profile and develop a timeline of their life. Character profiles help you understand your ancestor intimately and provide you with essential details that will be necessary for bringing to life your ancestor on the page. Timelines help you to identify important moments and accomplishments in your ancestor’s life. Shape the narrative around a big accomplishment.
2. Take some time to outline your story.
Before you begin to write it’s beneficial to know where your story will start and where it will end along with everything in between. If you take some time upfront to plan your story map and outline the critical events in your ancestor’s life, it will go along way to eliminating writer’s block. With a well thought out story plan you’ll know exactly what you need to write each day.
3. Set a daily writing goal
Many first-time writers find themselves dragging out that first draft for weeks, months even sometimes years. Writing a first draft in a reasonable amount of time is about the numbers. Do the math in advance and decide how many words you plan to write daily, giving yourself a realistic deadline for your first draft. By writing daily and with a word count goal, you’ll keep yourself on track to complete your mission, whether it’s a 20,000-word short story for your legacy family history book or an 80,000-word epic family history novel. Identify in advance your project and the wordcount. Do the math. Time yourself. Write a small scene about something you saw yesterday. Just write. Set the timer on your phone for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes how many words did you write? Multiply that by 4. That is how many words you can write in an hour. Now to complete a 20,000-word story in 30 days, do the math. How long do you need to commit to writing each day? Now, the only thing left is clearing the time in your schedule.
4.Develop a daily writing routine
A daily writing routine is essential to completing a first draft and making writing a part of your life. This is usually where most new writers fall down. By finding the environment, tools, and time of day that works best for you, you can turn writing into a regular part of your everyday life. Habits will help you to center yourself in the writing process quickly and maintain your focus pushing away distractions. Turn off the TV, cell phones and all social media. Create a writing space in your home. If that’s not possible, find a quiet spot at the local library or head to the nearest coffee shop. If one place doesn’t work then try another. But find a space that allows you focused writing time, then commit to a specific time every day.
Remember first drafts are messy. Don’t look for perfection in your first draft. It just about getting the basic story down.
10 Tips to Score Big with the Family History Writing Challenge10 Tips to Score Big with the Family History Writing Challenge
- Create a daily target goal. It’s important to understand how much time you can dedicate to writing each day and how many words you can write in that timeframe. Do those targets coincide with your goal? You have to do the math and set realistic and expectations for yourself.
- Choose an Ancestor to write about. You can’t possibly write your entire family history in 28 days. However, you can choose one ancestor and one story that you can write about during these 28 days. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Start with one story, one ancestor.
- Take some time to get organized. Gather your research together and create a workflow. It’s important to get organized before you begin to write so that you actually spend your time writing and not looking for your research. You’ll be a much more productive writer and find the process that much more enjoyable.
- Complete an ancestor profile. Dig deep and learn as much as you can about your ancestor. The more you know, the more confident you will be about writing their story. A profile is a vital tool to fleshing out your ancestor and getting to know him or her in-depth. You’ll find an excellent ancestor profile in our workbook, The Authentic Ancestor.
- Create a timeline of your ancestor’s life. Timelines are fabulous tools to help you understand what you know, what you don’t and to help you find your story. Don’t miss this step.
- Identify your ancestor’s story? We don’t just want to tell a chronological tale of an ancestor’s life from beginning to end, that would be boring. Instead take the time to find your ancestor’s goals, motivations and the risks they took to meet their dreams.
- Understand scene and summary. Family history stories are written using the genre of narrative nonfiction. Narrative nonfiction uses scene and summary like building blocks to create a story. Make sure you understand this concept as it is at the core of writing your family history stories. It will also help you in creating your storyboard for your writing. Our workbook, Crafting a Scene is an excellent resource for learning scene and summary.
- Create a storyline. A storyline is like a timeline but different. It is the timeline for your story. Identify the key scenes that will carry the story and organize them into a storyline. A storyline will help you to create an entertaining and suspenseful tale that will pull your readers along. You can learn to create a storyline in our workbook, Finding the Story.
- Create a 4-week storyboard. A storyboard is your map for writing. Using index cards, you can outline your storyboard using scenes. Once you create your storyboard, it will serve as a great visual reminder of your writing plan, day by day. A storyboard will keep you focused and on track. Want to learn more about storyboards consult Crafting a Scene.
- Create a daily schedule and your writing place. Make sure you plan your writing and make it a priority, at least, for the next 28 days. Also, you need to identify a place for writing, a desk or table, you can claim as your writing space. These are essential steps to completing the Challenge with success and making it a priority for the next 28 days.
If you want to meet with success this year, you need to make writing your family history stories a priority, and you need to come with a plan. We cover all 10 of these steps in detail with worksheets in our Family History Writing Challenge Prep Course.
This year, score big in the Family History Writing Challenge. Be ready to write.
Creating Your Family History Book: Fleshing out 8 Milestone GoalsCreating Your Family History Book: Fleshing out 8 Milestone Goals
In part one of our series Creating a Family History Book, we looked at identifying our dream of creating a family history book in 2018 along with recognizing our motivations behind the dream. I hope you took the time to identify your vision in specifics and to write it down using our template.
Now it’s time to move forward and to flesh out the eight milestone goals that will help you move closer to accomplishing that dream.
In my work of writing a family history book, I realized there are eight key goals that I had to meet along the way. I also realized it was essential to think and plan out each of those goals in advance before I began to write.
Let’s identify these 8 milestone goals. They will be your guide to creating a family history book. You won’t necessarily complete these goals in this order, but for the sake of planning your project, I recommend working through them in this order.
- Distribution of the Book – The first thing is to start at the end. How do you plan on selling and distributing the book? Who are you selling or giving the book to? What is your deadline for distribution? Do you wish to release the book at a specific event or in time for a milestone birthday or anniversary? Even if you don’t have an event to use as a deadline, it is best not to leave the publishing date open-ended. Always have a deadline to keep you on task.
- Printing the Book – Acquire quotes for printing of the book. You can have your book published online with any number of book publishers. My favourite is Createspace. You can check out my final product here. You can also take it to your local printer, or even your local office supply store can print it for you. But do your homework. Decide on a number of pages? Each page will cost more money. Will your book be colour or black and white? How will it be bound? Who will design the cover? How many copies do you need? How much time does the printer need? In what format does the printer require the manuscript? Set a deadline to get the manuscript to the printer, so it is back to you in time for your distribution deadline.
- Final Editing – Who will edit your book for you? It’s essential to have an outside editor. While you can rely on family and friends, you must be appreciative of their time and not expect a quick turn around. How much time will they need? Consider that several edits might be required. Set a deadline for each edit.
- Formatting – Scan pictures, documents, etc. for inclusion in the book. Choose font, spacing, cover design. Who will format the book? This could be the printer, yourself or someone familiar will book formatting like an editor. You may format your book in an online program such as Createspace or even in the writing software Scrivener. Once again, set a deadline for completion.
- Identify the Ancestors and their Stories – Identify the ancestors that you will write about. Create a list and gather and organize the research you require for each. Complete an ancestor profile which will help you to identify any missing gaps in your research and help you to get to know your ancestor better, before writing about them. Do you have enough research to tell a proper story? Organize all your research for this project into one place so that it is easily accessible. Some options include a computer file, Evernote, OneNote or Dropbox. Getting Ready to write. It important to establish a good workflow before beginning.
- Outline the Stories – Outline each of the stories for the ancestors you have identified. If your book is one story, then create a storyline and storyboard so that you have a plan for your writing. If you are writing several stories than you will want to create a storyline and storyboard for each story you plan to write.
- Schedule the Writing – Plan when, where and how you will write and complete the stories for your book. How much time will each story take? Identify how many words you can write in a given timeframe. How many words and can you write in an hour. How many hours to write first the first draft. How much time is required for revisions? Find the time to write and schedule it on your calendar. Create a deadline for a first draft and for completing revisions in time for the editor.
- Finalize the end Product – Now that you have worked through milestone goals 1 to 7 your vision for your book may have changed or altered a bit or drastically. That’s ok. Identify and rewrite your new vision for your product if it has changed.
What is A SMART Goal?
For each of these milestone goals, we want to make sure they are A SMART Goal. All goals should have the same common elements. They should be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic and have a target and we are going to add one more element, accountable making them A SMART Goal.
Let’s define each of these elements.
A- Accountable.
Who is going to keep you on task? Find an accountability buddy, or join a writing group. Somebody or some who will keep you focused on a regular basis for each of these milestone goals. They can be different people for each of these goals.
S – Specific.
Be as detailed as possible about what this goal is and what it will include. Write out the goal in specifics.
M- Measurable.
How will you measure your progress? Create a way of checking off or measuring your progress.
A-Actionable.
Each of these goals should be easily broken down into actionable tasks.
R-Realistic
Don’t take on more than you can chew. If you have never written a story before don’t start out by thinking you’re going to write an epic novel. Start out with short stories or ancestor profiles. Be realistic about your time and skills. If you’ve never written a story before taking a writing class might be a task you need to add to your project timeline.
T-Target.
Every goal should have a deadline, not just one overall deadline. These dates will keep you motivated and on task along the way.
Download our Milestone Goal Planner sheet to help you flesh out each of these milestone goals.
In Part 3, we will organize our Milestone Goals into an action plan to keep you focused and on task.
Creating a Family History Book in 2018
Part 1: Identifying Your Dream
Part 2: Fleshing out the 8 Milestone Goals
Part 3: Creating an Action Plan
Part 4: Establishing Daily Habits
4 Steps to Creating a Family History Book in 20184 Steps to Creating a Family History Book in 2018
Do you dream of creating a family history book?
Has your book been just that, a dream?
I’m a big believer that to accomplish your dreams you need goals and a plan.
For those of you who are dreaming about creating a family history book in 2018, our next four posts are designed with you in mind. We are going to close out 2017 and begin 2018 with developing a plan to turn your family history book dream into a reality.
Over December and January, we will cover the following in a 4-part series.
Step One. Identify your dream and the purpose behind the dream
Step Two. Identify and set your goals needed to make your family history book a reality
Step Three. Make an action plan and timeline for accomplishing these goals.
Step Four. Set up the daily habits required to accomplish your goals.
Each part will come with a downloadable template to help you flesh out your plan on paper.
Today, we start with Part 1 – The Dream, and its Purpose.
Part 1 – The Dream and What Drives Your Dream
Your dream is to write a family history book. But why do you want to write a family history book? It’s not enough to just have the idea. You must also identify the purpose and passion behind your vision, any vision including creating a family history book.
When you have a clear sense of the purpose of your project it enables you to focus your efforts. It compels you to stay on task and push forward when the work might become difficult or overwhelming.
Knowing why you want to create a family history book is an essential first step in figuring out how to achieve this dream.
Only when you know the why will you find the courage to take risks needed to make it happened, to stay motivated when the road becomes tough and to take on a challenging yet very rewarding trajectory.
Why I write family history stories and books?
To help you identify your own purpose behind wanting to create a family history book I thought I would share some of the reasons that got me started in writing family history but also why I continue to make it a significant part of my life.
- I believe that stories can close the gap between our ancestors and our families. We’ve all tried to share our family history with our loved ones. We’ve all been met with the eye rolls. I believe that in creating a family history book that is entertaining and compelling, I could overcome their resistance and close this gap.
- I was worried about spending years researching my family history, acquiring boxes and files full of information only to have it lost or be packed away when I left this world. I wanted to create a book that was going to be a representation of my work. It would not be just a legacy of my ancestors but my legacy of years of research and dedication to my passion for genealogy.
- I wanted to create something that had longevity, a book that was going to sit proudly on all my relative’s bookshelves. It wanted a book that they would be proud to have displayed on their coffee table. I wanted a book that they would reference from time to time over the years and a book that would be passed on for generations to come.
These were the three significant purposes that fed my dream to create a family history book. You may have other reasons for wanting to create a book. The point here is to acknowledge those motives. These larger purposes will feed you throughout your writing journey. When you have a drive and desire for your project, you’re more likely to stick with it.
The Power of Writing Down Your Dreams and Goals
An essential component in making your dreams a reality is to write them down. There is considerable evidence to support the fact if you write down your thoughts and goals you are more likely to transform those desires into reality. It also suggests that if you share your written goals with a friend who believes in your ability to succeed it will aid you in meeting with success.
Therefore, each step along the way in this 4-part series, I will provide you with a template you can download and print off and fill in so that you have your dream, purposes, goals and action steps all written down. Not only will this help you take your ideas from the thinking stage to putting them on paper and making them concrete you’ll also have a written plan to help you proceed.
Let’s start by identifying your dream to create a family history book and the purpose behind your vision. Download the Dream and Purpose Template and fill it in.
Your Dream and Purpose Template
Watch for our next installment as we take your dream and begin to identify the goals needed to make it a reality.
Identifying Your Goals
Making an Action Plan and Project Timeline
Jan 17, 2018 – Creating Daily Habits that Support Your Goal
